Grammy Award winning record producer, rapper, singer and
songwriter Pharrell Williams is famous as part of the successful
music production duo The Neptunes, along with childhood friend Chad
Hugo. They have produced hit singles for various artists, including
Britney Spears, Madonna, Nelly, Jay-Z, NSYNC, Babyface, and Ludacris,
to name a few. They won Grammy Awards in 2004 for Producer of the
Year, Non-Classical and Best Pop Vocal Album for Justin Timberlake's
debut album “Justified,” and an additional Grammy Award
in 2007 for the Lucadris hit single “Money Maker,” where
Williams was also featured on the song. Williams also enjoyed Grammy
nominations on a few songs he has appeared in as a featured
performer, like Snoop Dogg's “Beautiful” (2003) and “Drop
It Like It's Hot” (2004), and Jay Z's “Excuse Me Miss”
(2003).

Williams is also the lead singer of the hip hop rock group
N.E.R.D, whose members include Hugo and rapper Shay Haley. Founded in
2001, the group has released the albums “In Search Of...”
(2002), “Fly or Die” (2004) and “Seeing Sounds”
(2008). As a soloist, Williams released the Grammy nominated debut
album “In My Mind” (2006), which he also produced. In
addition to Grammy recognition, Williams and The Neptunes were handed
Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards for Producer of the Year (2003) and
Producer of the Decade (2009).

Named Esquire's “The Best Dressed Man in the World” in
2005, Williams has his own clothing line called the Billionaire Boys
Club (BBC) and a line of shoes and t-shirts called Ice-Cream. In
2008, he co-designed (with Camille Miceli) glasses and jewelry for
Louis Vuitton.

Virginia Beach

Childhood and Family:

Pharrell Williams was born on April 5, 1973, in Virginia Beach,
Virginia, to Pharoah Williams, a service man, and Carolyn Williams, a
teacher. He has two younger brothers named Cato and Psolomon. He also
has two half-brothers named Pharoah and David. Growing up in Virginia
Beach, Pharrell developed a friendship with future collaborator Chad
Hugo. They first met in a summer band camp when they were seventh
graders. At the time, Pharrell played the keyboards and drums and
Chad played tenor saxophone. They went on to attend the same high
school at Virginia Beach's Princess Anne High School, where the two
played in the school band. In the 1990s, they founded a group called
The Neptunes, with Shay Haley and Mike Etheridge. They caught the eye
of record producer Teddy Riley while participating in a high school
talent show.

In My Mind

Career:

Spotted in a high school talent show, Pharrell Williams and his
rap group The Neptunes signed with Teddy Riley after graduating high
school. His first break in the music industry arrived in 1992 when
Riley asked him to write a verse for the hip hop group
Wreckx-N-Effect's hit single “Rump Shaker,” which was
produced by and featured Riley. The song peaked at No. 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks,
No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles, and No. 9 on the Hot Dance Music/Club
Play. The same year, his voice could be heard on SWV's hit “Right
Here (UK Remix).”

In 1994, Williams and Chad Hugo established themselves as a
production duo under the name The Neptunes and produced “Tonight's
The Night” from Blackstreet's self titled debut. The song rose
to No. 27 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and No. 80
on the Billboard Hot 100. They went on to produce occasionally for
the next three years, with credits ranging from rap trio Total's
“When Boy Meets Girl” (1996), SWV's R&B hit “Use
Your Heart” and Mase's “Lookin' At Me” (1997). They
began gaining widespread recognition in 1998 when they produced the
hip hop hit single “Superthug (What What)” for rapper
Noreaga. The song, featuring Williams and Tammy Lucas, rose to No.
36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 15 on the U.S. Hip-Hop chart.
1998 also saw them produce other singles, including M.C. Lyte's “It's
All Yours,” “I Can't Make A Mistake” and The Lox's
“If You Think I'm Jiggy.”

In 1999, The Neptunes produced Kelis' debut album “Kaleidoscope,”
which was released on December 7, 1999, by Virgin Records. They also
served as executive producers and arranges on the album. The album
spawned the three hit singles “Caught out There,” “Good
Stuff” and “Get Along with You” (all written by
Williams and Hugo). The duo also produced Noreaga's “Oh No,”
Ol' Dirty Bastard's “Recognize,” “Got Your Money”
and Clipse's” The Funeral.”

In 2000, Williams and Hugo cemented their reputation as successful
producers with popular hit singles like Ludacris' “Southern
Hospitality” and Mystikal's “Shake Ya Ass,” and
“Danger (Been So Long).” Released as the second single of
Ludacris' album “Back for the First Time,” “Southern
Hospitality,” composed by The Neptunes, peaked at No. 5 on the
Billboard Hot Rap Singles, No. 6 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop
Songs and No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single “Shake Ya
Ass,” released from Mystikal's fourth album, rose to No. 13 on
the Billboard Hot 100, No. 3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles &
Tracks and No. 7 on the Hot Rap Singles. Mystikal's next single,
“Danger (Been So Long)” went to No. 14 on the Billboard
Hot 100, peaked at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles &
Tracks and No. 3 on the Hot Rap Singles. The year also saw The
Neptunes produce many other singles, including Jay-Z's “I Just
Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me),” Guru’s “Supa Luv,”
Beenie Man's “Girls Dem Sugar” and Lil' Kim's “How
Many Licks” (Remix). Williams was also featured in several of
the songs.

The following year, The Neptunes wrote and produced “I'm A
Slave 4 U” for pop star Britney Spears, which was released on
September 24, 2001, as the lead single from her third album
“Britney.” The song received good reviews from critics
and was a commercial success. It peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard
Hot 100 and No. 35 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but fared
better on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, where the song rose to No.
4. “I'm A Slave 4 U” became Spears' first dance hit. The
Neptunes also collaborated with Spears in the fourth single “Boy.”
2001 also found the producing duo working on Noreaga's “Grimey,”
Jadakiss' “Knock Yourself Out” (featuring Williams),
Angie Martinez's “Dem Thangz,” Foxy Brown's “Candy,”
Ray J's “Wait a Minute” (featuring Williams and Lil’
Kim) and “Formal Invite” (featuring Williams), Fabolous'
“Young'n (Holla Back),” Tha Alkaholiks' “Best U
Can” (featuring Williams), (P. Diddy's “Diddy”
(featuring Williams), Babyface's “There She Goes,” T.I.'s
“I'm Serious,” Kelis' “Young, Fresh n' New,”
and Busta Rhymes' “As I Come Back” and “What It
Is.”

It was also in 2001 that Williams and Hugo formed the group
N.E.R.D. (No One Ever Really Dies) with longtime friend Shay Haley as
a side project of The Neptunes, with Williams singing leads vocals
and playing the piano/keyboards, rhythm guitar and percussion. Their
debut album, “In Search Of...,” was released in Europe in
September 2001 and worldwide in March 2002, with live instruments
provided by the rock band Spymob. It rose to No. 56 in the U.S. and
received gold certification from RIAA. The album also charted at No.
28 in the U.K. The lead single “Lapdance,” produced by
The Neptunes, peaked at No. 85 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop
Songs and No. 20 on the U.K. Singles Chart. It was followed by “Rock
Star” (#15 UK) and “Provide” (# 20).

Williams and The Neptunes went on to produce a number of singles
during 2002, including the No. 1 pop and R&B hit “Hot in
Herre” from Nelly's second studio album, Lil' Bow Wow's “Take
Ya Home,” 'N Sync's “Girlfriend,” (#5 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the UK Singles Chart) Clipse's
“Grindin'” (# 30 Billboard's Hot 100; # 10 on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks) and “When the Last Time”
(#19 Hot 100; #8 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs), LL Cool J's “Luv U
Better,” Snoop Dogg's “From tha Chuuuch to da Palace”
(#23 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and #16 Hot Rap Tracks), Beyoncé
Knowles' “Work It Out” (#11 US Hot Dance Club Play and #7
UK), Common's “Come Close” (#21 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop
Songs) and Tony Braxton's “Hit the Freeway” (#2 US Hot
Dance Club Play). The Neptunes earned nominations for Songwriter of
the Year and Producer of the Year at the 2002 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Awards.

It was also in 2002 that The Neptune, in collaboration with
Timbaland, Brian McKnight, Claus Norreen, The Underdogs, and Scott
Storch, produced the solo debut album of Justin Timberlake,
“Justified.” The album was a massive commercial success
and earned Grammys in 2004 in the categories of Best Pop Vocal Album
and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (for the song “Cry Me a
River”). At the same 46th Grammy Awards ceremony, Williams also
won Producer of the Year for Non-Classical, which he shared with his
partner Hugo. The Neptunes produced several songs on the album,
including the first single “Like I Love You,” “Rock
Your Body,” “Señorita,” “Take It from
Here” and “Let's Take a Ride.”

On August 23, 2003, The Neptunes released an album called “The
Neptunes Present... Clones” under Star Trek Entertainment, a
hip hop record label founded by Williams and Hugo in 2002. Containing
songs from various artists, the album debuted at No. 1 on the
Billboard 200 and stayed at the position for a week. The same year,
Williams and The Neptunes remained in the spotlight thanks in part to
their partnership with Jay-Z on the rapper's album “The Black
Album.” On the album, they produced two tracks, including the
first single “Change Clothes,” which rose to No. 10 on
the Billboard Hot 100. The Neptunes won their first Billboard
R&B/Hip-Hop Award in 2003 for Producer of the Year. They were
also nominated for Songwriter of the Year.

Still in 2003, Williams performed the popular song “Frontin’”
with Jay-Z. Written by Williams, Hugo and Shawn Carter and produced
by The Neptunes, “Frontin’” emerged as a summer hit
in 2003 when it peaked at No. 5 on The Billboard Hot 100, No.1 on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Tracks charts, and No. 6 in the
U.K. It brought Williams a 2004 Grammy nomination for Best Rap/Sung
Collaboration. Williams also became a featured performer on Snoop
Dogg's Top Ten hit single “Beautiful” (2003) along with
Charlie Wilson, and jointly nabbed a 2004 Grammy nomination for Best
Rap/Sung Collaboration. Produced by The Neptunes, “Beautiful”
also earned an additional Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song.

In March 2004, Williams was reunited with N.E.R.D. to launch the
second album “Fly or Die,” which rose to No. 6 in the
U.S. and No. 4 in the U.K. It spawned two U.K. hits with the songs
“She Wants to Move” (#5) and “Maybe” (#25).
Later that same year, Williams made a featured performance on Snoop
Dogg's rap No.1 hit single “Drop It Like It's Hot,” which
received Grammy nominations in 2005 for Best Rap Performance by a Duo
or Group and Best Rap Song.

Williams was reunited with Gwen Stefani for the song “Can I
Have It Like That,” released on October 31, 2005. Produced,
performed and written by Williams, the song received primarily
negative reviews from music critics and was a commercial failure in
the U.S. The single had better luck in Europe, where it peaked at No.
11 on the Billboard European Hot 100 Singles chart and debuted at No.
3 on the Singles Chart.

Williams' first solo album, “In My Mind,” followed on
July 25, 2006. The album, produced by Williams, received mixed
reviews from critics. It peaked at No. 3 in the U.S. and No. 7 in the
U.K. In addition to “Can I Have It Like That,” the album
also featured the singles “Angel” (released in the UK),
“Number One” (featuring Kanye West) and “That Girl”
(featuring Snoop Dogg & Charlie Wilson). “In My Mind”
was nominated for a Grammy in 2007 for Best Rap Album.

Also in 2006, Williams was featured in Robin Thicke's “Wanna
Love You Girl,” Clipse's “Mr. Me Too” and Paul
Oakenfold's “Sex 'n' Money.” He also made a guest
appearance in Ludacris' No. 1 hit single “Money Maker”
(2006), from Ludacris' album “Release Therapy.” The song
won a 2007 Grammy for Best Rap Song. For the next two years, he
continued to guest star in other artists' singles, including Twista's
“Give It Up” (2007), Jay-Z's “Blue Magic”
(2007) and “I Know” (2008), Common's “Announcement”
(2008) and Hope's “I Apologize” (2008). He also produced
(with The Neptunes) the singles “Green Light” (Beyoncé
Knowles), “Hooked On” and “Why Should I Be Sad”
(both Britney Spears), “Give It 2 Me” (Madonna) and “I
Decided: (Solange Knowles), to name a few.

Williams rejoined N.E.R.D. in 2008 for their third album, “Seeing
Sounds,” which was released under Star Trak/Interscope on June
6. The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and made the top
20 in the U.K, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia and Switzerland.
The album spawned the singles “Everyone Nose (All the Girls
Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)” (#41 UK) and “Spaz”
(#106 US).

In 2009, Williams was featured on Teriyaki Boyz's “Work
That” (also with Chris Brown), Pitbull's “Blanco,”
Clipse's “I'm Good” and Clipse's “Popular Demand
(Popeyes).” He and The Neptunes also produced Shakira's “Did
It Again.” The same year, The Neptunes were honored with the
Producer of the Decade Award at the 2009 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
Awards.

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